"D'Est" by Chantal Akerman is a wonderful film of a woman's travels through Eastern Europe. Her compsition is impeccable and her framing is meaningful and expressive. My only complaint is that this piece is drawn out so long (2 hours?) and it seems excessive. Her idea of life in Russia after the Cold War being slow and boring, there being this constant waiting within the community was expressed thouroughly after the first hour or so. I also saw some shots that I thought were filmed in a very narrative form and felt like the movie was striving to be something of a story of Russia, but not succeeding. I know that this film was used initially as a video installation which seems like a much more feasable idea.
The film "Hukkle" by György Pálfi is a Hungarian film with the same amazing composition and framing (still no dialogue, like "D'Est") but it's much more meaningful to me. I've been wondering to myself if I like this film better because it's more of a narrative than Akerman's piece but I do think both films are on the same wavelength and would work together very well. This could illustrate what narrative brings to Experimental film.
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It was interesting to read your point of view on "D'Est". I liked the narrative form that the movie had in its attempt to give a feel of what life in Russia is like after the Cold War. The different ways in which the camera captured people's faces, movement, and sound kept my interest throughtout the entire film. I began to laugh, as I waited for my late bus, thinking back to the movie scenes where the people are constantly waiting. Are we much different here?
Kathrine Arndt
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